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Shok'Thola
The Shok'Thola, or Warlords, were the supreme leaders of the Altarin'Dakor. They held absolute authority over their own respective empires, and were believed to be gods by most of their subjects. Granted with immortality through their connection with the Entity, many of them were older than the foundation of the Old Republic. It was the Warlords who led the Altarin'Dakor to invade the galaxy, claiming it as rightfully theirs. See this listing for Warlord Force Powers. List of Shok'Thola Altima (Humanoid male - Supreme Warlord) Former name: Elan Mossin - from Had Abaddon Zalaria (Elerian female from Merinama)'' (true name)'' Akargan (Human male from G’rho) (true name) Velius (Human male from Kashi) Former name: Jarthanis Strife (Human male from Palawa) Former name: Kijiras Sado (Human male from Tython) (true name) Kronos (Human male from Anaxes) Former name: Thule Vionin Asellus (Human female from Notron) Former name: Onrai Raftina (Crinn female Queen Mother) (true name) Elidibsatianouka (Duinougwuin male from The Graveyard of the Dragons) (true name) Calvernic (Human male from the AD galaxy) (true name) Queklain (Alien in Human male Jedicon Rofel’s body) Nimrod (Elerian male from Merinama – deceased) (true name) Mordachus (Human male from the AD galaxy – deceased) (true name) History of the Warlords The Shok'Thola were some of the most powerful Force users in history, and were leaders among the Followers of Ashla during the galaxy's Golden Age, millennia before the founding of the Old Republic. Some of them were born long before the Great Schism. They grew to become powerful and respected members of Jedi society and eventually became legendary heroes. Zalaria was known as a great mediator, while Nimrod was adept at exposing plots, catching criminals, and outwitting potential insurrections. Kigiras was a warmaster and instructor at the war academies, while Jarthanis was a philosopher and teacher who was known for his staunch conservatism. These Force-users lived long, full lives and became old members of galactic society during the Golden Age. However, one day in 28,520 BBY, Sado came to some of them with an astonishing discovery - he had become seemingly young again, appearing as though he were in his mid-twenties. Furthermore, his power in the Force had increased a hundredfold. He revealed to them his secret: during his experiments into extra-dimensional planes, he had tapped into a new source of power. Most of the Shok'Thola were advanced in age by that point and would have loved to have youth once more. Some desired more strength in the Force to accomplish greater things. Others wanted the chance to live forever. Few Warlords joined because of greed or lust for power. In the end, many flocked to Sado's cause, linking through him to the Entity and attaining power and life beyond their wildest dreams. Sado, however, did not reveal to them the true purpose of the Entity - to eventually gain entry into their universe and consume it just as it had done before. The Warlords were, unknowingly, mere pawns to be used. At first the Jedi were astonished by the newfound youth that the Shok'Thola had. The Warlords continued to accomplish great feats with their new power. Eventually, however, jealousy set in. The other Jedi aged while the Warlords did not. This led the Jedi to attempt to limit and control the Warlords. Those attempts were resisted. The Jedi, unable to come anywhere close to the power the Warlords had, demanded that they give up their powers. The Shok'Thola refused. Ideological differences had developed and strong arguments ensued.The Warlords began to see themselves as superior, above the Jedi, giving them the right to rule. Zalaria and Nimrod returned to their homeworld where they were welcomed as heroes and rulers. They became the monarchs, heads of the planetary government, their political opponents long since passed away. For many years they ruled, and the people followed loyally. Eventually, however, the people tired of them. They realized that rulers who never left office or died would never change. Support for them waned; revolutions began, but Zalaria and Nimrod were too obsessed with their power, too changed by their contact with the Entity. All resistance was stamped out ruthlessly and brutally, but it only created more. Ultimately Zalaria and Nimrod became absolute monarchs, in a reign of terror. The other Warlords had continued their squabbles with the other Followers of Ashla. Eventually the tensions rose to the breaking point.The Followers demanded the Warlords leave. With sheer numbers on their side they forced them into exile, though nearly half their number leave with the Warlords. Zalaria and Nimrod were betrayed by their own people and decided to follow the others into exile. During that time Zalaria takes on of her most loyal proteges to Sado and sponsors him to become a Shok'Thola. He takes the name Kronos. As they fled, Sado found a young Follower named Elan Mossin, a recent addition to the Ashla Temple. Mossin had been hailed as possibly the most latently powerful Force-user ever discovered, and his future with the Followers was bright. Leaping at this opportunity, Sado - with the Entity's prodding - chose Mossin as the new avatar - the Altima. Sado maintained a direct link with the Entity, but was freed of its insane mind control. Suddenly, the Warlords had a new leader. While in exile, the Warlords amassed a military force, perfected their offensive capabilities, and Sado engineered a host of amalgam races to fight for them, such as the Crinn, the Mortigena, the Zelduk, and the Charon. His finest creation, the queen mother of the Crinn, he sponsors to become a Shok'Thola. She becomes Raftina. Now calling themselves the Altarin'Dakor, or servants of power (of Altima, whose name means power), the Warlords invaded the galaxy and attempted to take over. The Great War erupted in 28,499 BBY and lasted for over 2,000 years. During the war Zalaria and Nimrod retake their homeworld, much to the horror of their people. They decide to punish the people for their rebellion and long hatred of their family, and exterminate every living person on their homeworld of Merinama.This made them infamous even among the other Warlords. As the centuries passed, the war swung back and forth, with each side gaining the upper hand. For many years the Altarin'Dakor held Coruscant and most of the Core Worlds. Then the battle swung in the favor of the combined galactic alliance. In the end, the sheer determination of the alliance members for freedom drove the Altarin'Dakor out. The tide turned, and even Warlords began to fall as the invaders were driven further and further towards the Rim. Akargan, a prominent Altarin'Dakor Jedicon warrior, was raised to become Shok'Thola during this time. Finally, in sheer desperation the Altarin'Dakor expend almost all their resources to construct a Galactic Gate that transports them to another, unknown galaxy. Any of their forces that did not flee with them were completely wiped out. In their new galaxy, the Warlords carved out a brand-new new empire, though the process took millennia. Until the AD galaxy was subjugated they fought countless wars, both with indigenous species and with each other. Other Warlords such as Mordachus and Calvernic were raised during this time. Eventually, each Warlord held his or her own empire, some spanning billions of systems. As the years passed, civil wars raged as some Shok'Thola tried to consolidate power and rise to prominence. They developed a society where they were revered and worshiped as gods, and never revealed themselves to the common people or military forces. Instead, they had regents and emperors who reported to them, and grand admirals who ran their fleets, all with unswerving loyalty to their immortal Shok'Thola. Eventually, boredom set in, and eventually rose to become the Warlords' biggest enemy. With the passing of eons, everything began to seem like a repetition of the something that had already happened before. They found themselves with an abundance of one, single element: time. They studied every art and science, mastered the Force and every other known activity. This brought unexpected new abilities. Mastering biology granted them powers to alter their own physiology in ways they'd never known possible. Study of physics and other subjects allowed them to warp space and time, and discover new feats. However, even this knowledge could not sustain them forever. They began to become more and more eccentric, taking on strange hobbies and characteristics to keep from going insane over the millennia. They sparked wars with each other simply to pass the time, and engaged in every type of sensual pleasure and hedonistic activity. Nevertheless, some succumbed to madness. Some were rumored to be absorbed into the Entity itself, while some simply vanished and were never heard from again. Others developed obsessions. For Akargan it was personal combat and physiology. For Strife it was art and personal beauty. For Sado it was the collection of eclectic and obscure knowledge, artifacts, and sciences. For Kronos it was the accumulation of prestige, resources, pleasure, and his own vanity. For Nimrod it was technology and mental prowess, while for Zalaria and Asellus it often was simply violence, and hedonism. For Velius, contrary to the levelheaded man he'd once been, it was the complete obsession with pleasure of any type, something that possibly drove him the most insane of them all. The infighting amongst the Warlords continued, and occasionally one Shok'Thola would kill another, each trying to achieve dominance. Altima promised them that one day he would choose a First Among Equals, the one who would Spearhead the Return. Civil war ensued. Some Warlords who were sufficiently beaten down and therefore seen as powerless suffered the ultimate fate by being consumed by the Entity. That fact created an incentive for the other Warlords to stay on top and in power. Though by this point they longed for death to stop the endless agony of immortality, they did not want to be consumed by the Entity. Altima would not release them from their agreement. The price had to be paid. Eventually, because of his power and prestige, an assassination attempt was made against Nimrod by several Warlords working in concert. It was almost successful; Nimrod survived, though he experienced severe physical trauma. Regrouping, he ruthlessly wiped out each of his opponents, who paid the ultimate price for their failure. Altima saw that the Warlords' numbers had dwindled and he banned the killing of any Warlord by another from that point onwards. The Return When a new Galactic Gate was completed, the Altarin'Dakor sent advance forces through, back into their home galaxy. Those forces were charged with building a return gate and with reporting the status of the galaxy. At this stage, Altima began a contest to determine who would Spearhead the Return. Surprisingly, Kronos won first right. He went through the gate first, but the others could not wait for long. Kronos was defeated by the New Imperium at Mizar while trying to release an army of Zelduk. Zalaria joined forces with the New Imperium for reasons she would not reveal. Later, Mordachus was killed by Strife, and an attempt on Zalaria's life by Velius was thwarted. At this point, the rest of the Shok'Thola pushed through all at once, though Nimrod led the way with his massive fleet of ships. He nearly took the entire New Imperium, driving them back to their two main worlds of Varnus and Tralaria, which he attacked simultaneously. However, just as Nimrod descended to Varnus in order to claim victory, a young man with incredible Force strength seemingly appeared out of nowhere and killed the Warlord. This enabled Zalaria to lay claim on Nimrod's forces, for the New Imperium to regroup, and launch a counterattack to retake their worlds and invade Altarin'Dakor territory. Category:New pages Category:Organizations